Authentication is achieved using HTTP Basic Authentication, where both the username and password are supplied in the HTTP header. To secure this information all requests should use the https:// protocol, in preference to standard http:// .

2. How do I lookup an address?

output indicates the required output format - currently this must be json

maf is the identity of the Master Address File to which the lookup is applied

parameters is a set of request parameters

Only a single request parameter is required - the query string. All other parameters are optional and should only be supplied when a non-default setting is required. As is standard with URLs, each parameter must be separated by an ampersand (&) character.

The query string is denoted by a single 'q' character. This is the address search criteria, which can be anything from a single character up to a full address. Please note that the search criteria must be URL encoded.

It is good practice to avoid sending multiple requests whilst the user is entering the search criteria. Delaying the request by a fraction of a second (for example 500 milliseconds) after each input character will allow for faster data entry with the request being made when the user stops typing.

This will return a pick-list of possible matches with the best predictions coming first. The client program would most likely reformat and present these to the end user as a list or tree. If the required address is not present then further input is needed to refine the list.

When an item is selected the client program should continue the address lookup by specifying the item's Sid (search identity) in the q (query string) parameter, along with any non-default options. Please note that the Sid is already URL encoded.

The previous two steps should be repeated until a single item is returned with the Selected field value true. When the Selected field is true the address lookup is complete and the requested output fields will be returned.

Customisations

1. How do I customise an address label?

The AutoComplete service defaults to return a free format address label, which may contain up to seven address lines. The town is presented in uppercase and the county is only included when appropriate, for example when it meets PTT guidelines or is required to disambiguate town names.

If this does not meet your requirements, then you can customise the layout. For example to increase the number of address lines to eight add the URL parameter "OutputFields=Label8". To fix the last address line for the postcode add the parameter "LabelFormat=FixedPostcode".

This parameter is used to specify the required output fields within a selected item.

It can be used to define the maximum number of lines in a formatted address label, by specifying a label value from Label1 to Label9. The default is Label7.

LabelFormat

Select the position of the town, county and postcode within the formatted address label. Allowed values are Standard (the default), FixedPostcode or FixedTown.

The value FixedPostcode reserves the last line of the formatted address label for the postcode and forces it to be output on a separate line.

The value FixedTown reserves the last three lines of the formatted address label for the town, county and postcode and forces each value to be output on a separate line. Please note that a line is reserved for the county even if none is output.

When a fixed value is requested, the formatted address label will comprise the maximum allowed number of address lines, some of which may be empty.

ReserveOrganisationLine

Select the position of the organisation within the formatted label. Allowed values are AsRequired (the default), Always or Never.

The value AsRequired includes the organisation within the address label following standard formatting rules.

The value Always reserves the first line of the formatted address label for the organisation and forces it to be output on a separate line. If there is no organisation then the first line will be empty.

The value Never removes the organisation from the formatted address label.

IncludeCounty

Select when the county should be included within the formatted address label. Allowed values are Always, Never or AsRequired (the default).

The value AsRequired will only include the county when appropriate, for example when it meets PTT guidelines or when it is required to disambiguate town names.

DropCountyToFitLabel

Select if the county may be dropped when it does not fit within the formatted address label. Allowed values are Never (the default) or Always.

TownFormat

Select the required town format. Allowed values are Uppercase (the default) or Lowercase.

2. How do I get individual address fields or data fields?

Each Master Address File (MAF) allows for the retrieval of individual address fields and common data. Some MAFs contain extra information beyond that common to all MAFs, such as National Statistics Postcode Directory (NSPD) data.

To discover the available MAF fields, specify ListOutputs as the q (query string) parameter value.

https://cloud.hopewiser.com/autoc/output/maf?q=ListOutputs

where:

output indicates the required output format - currently this must be json

maf is the identity of the Master Address File

This will return a list of all possible output fields, which are grouped on TableName. Fields with a TableName value of either Address Label, Address Fields or Data are common to all MAFs. Those with the TableName value Extra Data are MAF specific. Please note that a ToolTip is only provided for the common fields.

Required fields can then be requested by specifying their names as a comma separated list in the OutputFields parameter. The shorthand value Extra_ can be used to specify all Extra Data fields. Please note that adding the OutputFields parameter to the request removes its default value. Hence an appropriate label (Label1..Label9) must be included in the comma separated list when a formatted address label is required.

Example to return a seven line formatted label, plus the country and all MAF specific extra data fields.

When the address lookup is complete (i.e. the Selected field is true), then the requested output fields will be returned. It is possible for multiple values to exist per Extra Data field. Hence the Extra Data fields are grouped into records, where the first set of values comprise the first record, the second set comprise the next record, etc. Please note that only output fields containing a value will be returned.

Standard HTTP status codes are applied when the AutoComplete service cannot interpret the request. For example HTTP 401 (Unauthorised) is returned when the request does not contain user credentials or contains invalid credentials. HTTP 500 (Internal Server Error) is returned when the service encounters an unexpected failure.